You caught the bird with one outstretched pinch. It fluttered fast as your heart, but you clutched its tail hard between thumb and index pads and it calmed. Cupping it in your hands, you turned it to see its eyes, each an oily globe of hate. Then it ate your nose.

Elena Eiss is a student in Pittsburgh CAPA’s Literary Arts Department. She is a fan of fiction and an avid reader. Her work has won Scholastic Writing Awards regionally and nationally, and the Pittsburgh City Theatre produced a one-act play of hers in 2021.